The Great Courses Reviews – 29 Reviews of Thegreatcourses.com | Sitejabber

LOW RATING IS BOGUS
I am surprised by the low rating SiteJabber gives to the Great Courses. I have been a customer of theirs since about 2015. There is a 90% sale going on through Aug. 2020, and I will be buying some, like American History, Biochemistry, and How to Play Piano for $35 each!

PRICES
Their List Prices are excessive, however, if you get on their mailing list (they don’t spam you), you will get offers for 70%, 80%, and even 90% discounts every month or so. In one year EVERY course will eventually go on sale. So you don’t have to worry about the cost.

SAVE MONEY
Purchase the Online Streaming (not DVD) because it is cheaper, has zero shipping cost, and you can download the video (unencrypted) onto your hard drive or other storage device.

PRESENTATION AND VALUE
Some of the courses at TGC are worth having because they are presented well and cover many topics in one entire course. At minimum you get 12-lessons. 24- and 36- lessons is common. Some have 45- or 72-lessons in one course! Each Lesson is half-hour. The Guidebooks are helpful as well. You can even order digital copies of full transcripts of all the lectures.

READ REVIEWS
Before you purchase a course, read reviews on their (official) website and look at the overall rating. Also, be sure you understand what the content is actually about. Some are more technical than others, and some are not technical enough, depending on your expectations. Some courses have bad reviews and you may not want those.

YOUTUBE ALTERNATIVES
Another consideration is to look on YouTube for the video you want. Sometimes they are there. Other times, you will find similar content on YouTube and you don’t have to spend the money for it.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Returns and exchanges are allowed. Read their policy page or call and ask. Because of COVID-19, they are busy. But they have a good reputation to maintain (except on this site for some reason), and they will go out of their way to be helpful.